Together We Stand
by SupernaturalGeek
Summary: A simple Wendigo hunt turns out to be more complicated for the Winchester boys, as usual.
1. Chapter 1

"This is _not _a road Sam!"

Dean's voice conveyed his annoyance as clearly as his white knuckled grip on the steering wheel.

"Yes it is a road, Dean. It's just a country one, that's all." said Sam, doing his best to remain calm.

"It is not a friggin road, ok? I know what a road looks like and _this _is not it!" said Dean, wincing as a tyre hit yet another pot-hole. He turned to look at Sam, his eyes shooting daggers.

Sam ignored the glare and held the map up for Dean to see.

"It's a road, see? Right there." he said, pointing.

Dean rolled his eyes. "I swear to God Sam, you got me following a damn crease on the map." he said.

Sam huffed. "It's a road." he said stubbornly.

"Crease."

"_Road._"

"Crease!"

"Dean!" Now it was Sam's turn to sound annoyed. Sometimes talking to his brother was like trying to have a logical conversation with a 5 year old.

The Impala hit another pot-hole and Dean swore under his breath. Sam had a feeling his parentage had just been called into question.

"You are so cleaning my baby when we get back to civilisation." said Dean and Sam just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, in a parallel universe, man." said Sam dryly.

"I oughta make you walk your ass back to the road when we're done." muttered Dean. Sam ignored the comment and went back to studying the map.

"We should come across the parking area near the caves soon." he said. Dean huffed but didn't say anything, clearly still not speaking to Sam yet.

A few moments, and several pot-holes later, they came to a slightly open area where the track came to an end.

"This is the parking area?" said Dean, his voice dripping with disbelief.

Sam sighed. "Just park the damn car, Dean!" he said exasperatedly.

With a final glare Dean swung her round and parked, turning off the engine. Getting out he looked at the car's now mud spattered sides. Sam was so cleaning her. No question about it. And waxing. And polishing.

Unaware of the plans his brother was currently making for him Sam opened the trunk, lifting up the false bottom to look at their hidden arsenal.

"So, we know there's no point taking the guns, or the knives." said Sam, glancing at Dean as he came and stood next to him.

"Yeah, that much I do remember. Lets hope it goes better than last time we came up against one of these things." said Dean dryly.

Sam looked at him, concern flashing across his face. He remembered all too well their last encounter with a Wendigo. He'd nearly lost Dean that time, it had been sheer luck that he and had been able to find Dean and the others in that cave.

Dean looked up when Sam didn't answer and when he saw the look on Sam's face he rolled his eyes.

"Don't start, Sam." he said, recognising a lecture on being careful was about to come his way.

"Don't start what? Caring about you? It's kinda late for that, Dean." said Sam and Dean nudged him with his elbow.

"Ok, enough with the sappy stuff Princess. I know what I'm doing, remember? I've been hunting long before you started and I happen to be pretty good. This is one Wendigo, Sam – it'll be a walk in the park."

Sam threw his arms up in frustration. "Great! Famous last words as always! And I seem to recall the last one we came across? Not such a walk in the park, genius." he said.

"We didn't know what we were dealing with at first there, so it took us by surprise. Plus we had civilians to take care of. This time we know it's here, we know how to kill it, and it's just us. The dynamic duo, right Sammy?"

Sam shook his head but Dean's grin was infectious and he found himself grinning back at him. The 'dynamic duo' had been a phrase coined when they were kids, during Sam's phase of being fascinated with comic book heroes. He hadn't heard it in years and wondered what had bought it to Dean's mind now. He knew better than to ask though and just enjoyed the memory for what it was.

Reaching into the trunk and grabbing rope, two flashlights and a can of kerosene Dean also grabbed one of their bags. Emptying the stuff out into the second one, he put the supplies in there and slung it over his shoulder.

"You wanna grab the matches, Sam?" he said over his shoulder and Sam picked them up, making sure the box was full and putting them safely in his inside jacket pocket. Despite Dean's reassurances he couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy still. Memories of Dean's abduction by the other Wendigo and the fear those memories generated was clear in his mind and he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He needed to be on top of his game, for Dean's sake as well as his own. He wouldn't let his brother down, not this time.

"Hey, Sam – you gonna stand there bonding with nature all day or are we gonna do this thing?" said Dean, who was now waiting for him.

Sam huffed and shut the trunk with a little more force than necessary, earning the obligatory glare from Dean. Sam just smiled innocently in return and Dean shook his head, locking the car and making sure everything was secure. It was unlikely any self respecting car thief would trek all the way out here, but you could never be too careful.

"Brains before beauty." he said, indicating Sam should go first.

Sam raised his eyebrow. "You do realise you didn't exactly come off well in that sentence, right?" he said as they started walking.

Dean just smirked. "Hey, I know which I'd rather have – chicks notice the face first Sammy." he said.

"Whatever." said Sam, knowing that it really wasn't worth getting into this right now. Dean had an annoying capacity for being able to argue the most inane topic for hours on end.

The entrance to the caves was fairly wide, but after a few feet it narrowed to become a long, thin tunnel. Sam switched his flashlight on and a beam of light behind him told him Dean had done the same.

"Did I mention I really hate all this 'outdoor' crap?" grumbled Dean and Sam snorted. It was true, Dean never really had been one for nature. The only time they ever seemed to venture into the woods was to hunt something nasty, so it made sense really that Dean didn't really have happy memories of any of the experiences.

As they walked further in, Sam had to stoop a little as the cave ceiling got lower. He heard a muffled chuckle behind him and would have glared at Dean if he'd had enough room to turn round.

"Guess being short does come in handy sometimes." he settled for saying, and was rewarded with a shove from behind. Sam grinned, knowing he'd hit a nerve. Dean was amusingly touchy about the difference in height between them.

After a few minutes the tunnel opened out into a wide cavern. As they shone the flashlights round the walls it became clear that there were two tunnels that lead further back.

"Great. That's just perfect." said Dean and Sam looked at him.

"I told you not to use the words 'walk in the park' didn't I?" he said dryly.

"Shut up." muttered Dean, walking over to the first tunnel and shining his flashlight down it to try and see where it lead.

Sam did the same with the second one, but both curved round as they went back and so it was impossible to see more than a few feet in front of them.

"Alright. You take the kerosene and I'll.." Whatever else Dean had been about to say was cut off by Sam.

"Oh no – no way, Dean! We are not splitting up." he said firmly.

"Come on Sam – we're gonna be down here for days if we have to check these out separately." said Dean and Sam shrugged.

"Then we'll be here days. You know what happens when we split up – it's not happening, so get over it."

Dean sighed. He could tell by Sam's tone of voice that he wasn't going to dissuade him on this. Sam may be different to him and John, but he still had that Winchester stubbornness and wasn't above using it when he thought it was necessary.

"Fine! You are such a pain in the ass." said Dean exasperatedly.

Sam just smiled. He could live with Dean being in a bad mood more than he could live with them separating.

"So – pick one then, college boy." said Dean and Sam considered both tunnels before picking the one on the left.

"This one." he said and set off down it.

Dean followed, still muttering under his breath about 'over protectiveness' and 'drama queens'.

Sam ignored the muttering, concentrating on looking where he was going. Even with the flashlight it was still hard to see anything much further than a few steps in front of them.

"How far do you think this damn thing goes?" said Dean.

Sam was about to reply when suddenly the ground literally dropped out from under him. He didn't have time to even cry out as the felt himself falling weightlessly for a few minutes before he connected with the ground again, hard.

"Sam! Sammy!"

Dean called out frantically, kneeling at the edge of the hole in the ground Sam had just disappeared into. Cursing himself for letting Sam be the one in front he stared as hard as he could into the darkness, eyes straining as he tried to see how far down it went.

"Sam!" he called again, ears straining as well as he listened out for a reply.

Suddenly he heard a rumbling sound from above. He shone the flashlight upwards in time to see several bits of dirt and rock detach itself from the roof of the tunnel.

"Shit!"

Dean barely had time to scramble backwards before there was a virtual avalanche of dirt and rocks. Covering his head with his hands he coughed as the dust that was created by the cave-in got into his lungs. In a few minutes it was over and Dean stood up again, still coughing. Moving to where the hole had been he saw it was now covered with the rocks and dirt that had been part of the ceiling minutes earlier.

Dean scrubbed a hand over his face. Perfect. Now not only were they separated, he had no idea how to get to Sam, or if he was hurt.

He was never using the words 'walk in the park' ever, ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam lay there for a moment, briefly stunned and winded at the same time. _Ok, note to self – next time, make Dean walk in front_. Of course even as he thought that he knew it wasn't really true. Given a choice between being in trouble himself and having Dean in trouble, he would always pick the option that kept his brother safe. In that respect if nothing else they were the same. It was Sam's only defence against his brother's self sacrificing nature – if Dean himself refused to put his life before others, especially Sam's, then Sam would just have to protect him doubly hard.

While he was infinitely grateful that it wasn't his brother that had just fallen down some God forsaken hole, it didn't mean he was actually pleased to have done it himself. He was seriously going to be one big bruise tomorrow. As he sat up, wincing, he was vaguely aware of Dean's voice calling his name. Yep – Dean definitely sounded freaked. He was about to call out a reply, now he had some actual air in his lungs again, when suddenly he heard a noise and out of nowhere a ton of dirt and rocks dropped down on top of him.

Cursing he rolled out of the way, lying still until it stopped as he had no idea where he was right now without the light from the flashlight. Eventually the cascade stopped and Sam coughed in the ensuing dust. Feeling about on his hands and knees he came across the flashlight and breathed a sigh of relief when it came on. The glass was a little cracked but other than that it appeared undamaged.

Shining the light above him he saw that the ceiling of the cavern he was now in was complete again. Clearly whatever had fallen through the hole had also filled it neatly. He felt a sudden surge of fear, that the cave in had been worse up where Dean had been. What if his brother was buried? What if he was trapped?

"Dammit!"

Sam stared at the ceiling in frustration. It was too high for him to reach and there was nothing in the cavern he was now in to climb or stand on. Deliberately forcing himself not to panic, Sam looked round. The cavern was smaller than the one they'd found before, and there were four tunnels leading from it this time instead of two.

Sam found himself wondering if he should stay where he was or start trying to find his own way back to the higher level. If Dean really was trapped or hurt, Sam wanted to get to him as soon as possible. Of course if Dean was looking for him then they could end up travelling in opposite directions and missing each other.

He really was gonna kill Dean for tempting fate with the whole 'walk in the park' comment. If he ever found him again that is.

Deciding finally that he couldn't sit there and do nothing, Sam took a deep breath and picked the second tunnel on the left. At least he'd be heading in the same direction they had been before.

Dean for his part had just spent a fruitless five minutes trying to dig through the dirt and find the hole that Sam had originally fallen through. All he'd succeeded in doing was compacting the dirt, cutting his fingers on the sharp rock, and generally putting himself in an even worse mood than he already had been.

"Great!" he said finally, sitting back on his heels and running his hands through his hair in frustration.

He wondered if Sam had been hurt in the fall, or by the subsequent rock slide. He also wondered how the hell he was supposed to get down to whatever level Sam was now on.

Someone up there was really, _really _pissed at them, Dean decided.

Knowing he wasn't helping either of them by sitting on his ass doing nothing, Dean got up and holding the flashlight firmly in front of him, he set off in the direction they'd originally been going.

Concern for Sam made his stomach churn. He hated when his brother was in danger or hurt, it always made him feel like he hadn't done his job properly. He wondered if everyone was so worried for their brother or sister when they were in their twenties and technically an adult, or if the fierce protectiveness was a by product of the lifestyle they led. He knew it wasn't just a one way thing either. Sam had demonstrated on more than one occasion that he was equally as capable of being protective of Dean. However much Dean rebelled against it when it happened, truth was it always gave him a warm feeling inside. He knew Sam cared about him, of course he did, but it was nice to see it in action so to speak. Not that he was ever going to tell Sam that of course. He had an image to protect after all.

Dean was so busy thinking about Sam and keeping his gaze firmly on the floor in case it disappeared again that he didn't notice the ceiling of the tunnel getting lower until he hit his head on the rock.

"Ow!"

Standing there rubbing his now throbbing head, Dean wondered just what else was going to go wrong today. Which of course was a sure fire way to conjure up another catastrophe. As if on cue, he heard a sudden chilling, wailing cry which could only be from the Wendigo that they'd come here to kill.

"Oh perfect." muttered Dean. Maybe it really was time to take up a career less dangerous, like shark fishing. Dean still had the rucksack with the kerosene but, naturally, Sam had the matches. Dean did have an old lighter that had once belonged to John, but he wasn't sure how much gas was left in it.

He suddenly hoped that the thing was in the same set of tunnels as he was and not down with Sam, since while his brother had the matches he had nothing to actually burn. Dean made a mental note that from now on they were doubling up on the equipment at all times. With the luck they were having recently it suddenly seemed like a sensible option.

Sam meanwhile had heard the same cry Dean had. It seemed to echo through the entire cave system and it was impossible to tell where it had come from. He wondered if it would be possible to kill it by just throwing match after match at it until the thing caught fire. They really needed to both start carrying the same equipment he thought, with the wonderful gift of hindsight.

Picking up his pace he considered turning off the flashlight but decided against it as that would leave him totally blind. At least this way he'd hopefully have some warning before he actually encountered the thing.

Dean had come to another junction and cursed as he tried to decide which way to go. Did the Wendigo have to pick the one damn cave system that split into a million directions every few feet? It suddenly occurred to him that assuming they managed to kill the thing, find each other, and survive the encounter unscathed they were still going to have to find their way out.

Maybe a little more forward planning wouldn't have gone amiss on this one. He sighed as he realised they had actually been doing that quite a bit lately. Jumping in first and asking questions later. He wasn't sure if it was down to desperation at the way they seemed to be being dragged inexorably towards some big showdown with 'the' demon, or if it was down to their concern over other things, chiefly John's death, Sam's impending fate, and his own current popularity with law enforcement. Either way they were getting sloppy and it was starting to show.

Resolutely deciding that they would have to get back into the swing of things properly when and if they made it through this gig, Dean carried on walking. He was aware of two things in the next few moments. One was of a blurred shape appearing in the beam from the flashlight, and the other was the smell of something that _really _needed to take a shower.

His final thought was "Oh cra.." but he never got to finish it, as his head suddenly impacted with the cave wall and all he knew then was blackness.

Sam was getting more freaked the further he went. There was something genuinely creepy about being this far underground, in the pitch black, and knowing that there really was a monster in the dark. He wished Dean was there and felt slightly foolish for wanting his big brother at his age. It was a force of habit though – if there was one thing that could make him feel safe it was Dean's presence. He could remember only a few times in his life when Dean hadn't been there, most recently during his time at Stanford and then in the hospital after the demon encounter. That had been the hardest thing about standing around watching Dean lying there in a coma. It was as if he hadn't really been there and Sam had felt the loss almost physically. He could still remember the overwhelming feeling of relief when he'd managed to contact Dean through the Ouija board. It hadn't been ideal, but at least he'd known his brother was still there.

Shaking off the melancholy thoughts Sam tried to concentrate on the task at hand. It was turning out they were spectacularly unprepared for this job and Sam winced at what John Winchester would have said had he been there.

Any further thoughts of what their father may or may not have had to say were driven out of Sam's mind as he became aware he was not alone. He staggered backwards as the Wendigo suddenly appeared in front of him, catching only glimpses of it's huge shape in the beam of the flashlight. He didn't stand a chance though, stuck in a tunnel he barely had room to stand straight in. Sam's last thought was of Dean and if he was ok, as his felt his head hit solid rock and then it was lights out.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far (and remained patient despite the glitches seems to be having this week!). I'm glad you're all enjoying it and I promise this one won't be too long this time - probably only one other chapter after this.. And I know, I am evil with the cliff hangers.. Sorry! ;)_

_Thanks btw to Ziggy for the encouragement – and the John Winchester style order to forget the housework and concentrate on the typing! As she pointed out, I am a Dean girl so I have no choice but to obey a direct order like that... And so on with the story! _

Dean woke slowly, feeling like there was a marching band having their first ever practice in his head. And all playing really badly and out of time. He tried to move and discovered two things. Firstly, he was literally hanging from his arms, which appeared to be tied at the wrist and held above his head. And wasn't _that _going to smart when he finally got them down? And secondly, his whole body felt like one giant bruise.

Oh yeah, and it was pitch black in there.

Trying to get his fuzzy mind to cooperate, which wasn't easy as his mind was pretty keen on telling him to go away and leave it alone right now, he tried to remember what had happened. Ah, that was right – the good old 'walk in the park'. Sam really was gonna kill him for that if they ever got out of there.

Shit! Sam!

Dean immediately set about trying to free his wrists, fear for his brother who was now alone out there with the Wendigo overriding any pain from his bruises or his wrists. Dean let out a muffled curse and then froze as he heard something move not that far from him.

Whatever it was stopped moving too, and for a moment Dean simply hung there straining his ears and eyes like crazy even though it was pointless.

"Dean?"

The quietly spoken word, said slightly hesitantly, was quite possibly the best thing Dean had ever heard.

"Sammy! That you?" he whispered, conscious that even if by some miracle he and his brother were finally in the same place again they may not be alone.

He literally felt the sigh of relief from Sam. "Yeah, it's me. Man, it's good to hear your voice!" Sam whispered back.

He'd woken up a few minutes ago and found himself in the same position as Dean. Unaware that he wasn't alone in the complete darkness, his first thoughts too had been for his brother and he'd been working on the knots round his wrist. He'd of course managed to do all that without the cursing, but it was only when he heard muttered swearing in a voice he would know anywhere in a heartbeat that he'd dared hoped that he and Dean had somehow managed to end up together again.

He wondered just how weird your family was when being captured by the same killer monster was actually considered an improvement on your day.

Dean for his part literally sagged against the ropes for a moment. He felt something click back into the place, the way it always did when he and Sam were together.

Man, that was sappy. He wondered briefly just how hard he'd hit his head.

Aloud he said. "Good to hear your voice too, Sammy. You ok over there?"

"You mean apart from being tied up in the pitch black about to become Wendigo food?"

Dean smirked. "Yeah, apart from that?"

Sam smirked too and shook his head. His brother really was unbelievable.

"Well, apart from that then I'm having a great day. Are you ok? There was some sort of cave in after I fell wasn't there?" said Sam, concern clear in his voice.

Dean rolled his eyes even though Sam couldn't see him. Well, at least it took about a minute before the mother hen routine kicked in.

"I'm fine, Sam. It was just a few rocks and a bit of dirt. I was trying to find another way down to you when I came across our hygienically challenged friend. What about you? How far did you fall anyway?"

Sam smiled slightly at Dean's own 'mothering' but he answered truthfully, knowing Dean must have been pretty freaked when he'd disappeared. He knew he would have been.

"I'm fine, Dean. It wasn't really that far, just knocked the wind out of me. I was heading to try and find you when that thing got me."

"Great minds, eh Sam?" said Dean, sounding pleased that they'd been thinking along the same lines.

"That, or we just spend way too much time together." said Sam dryly and he heard Dean chuckle. He also heard the slight intake of breath as Dean stopped laughing and frowned.

"You sure you're not hurt?" he said, knowing Dean could be using the dark to hide a multitude of injuries. Knowing him he could have a limb missing and he wouldn't have mentioned it.

Dean sighed. "Yeah I told you, I'm ok. Just banged my ribs a bit that's all." he admitted, deciding for once that honesty was the best way of stopping Sam worrying about him. It really wasn't too bad it was just the way his arms were held right now wasn't helping any. "I don't think our resident fugly was too gentle about dragging me down here." he finished.

It was Sam's turn to sigh, grateful and more than a little surprised to have got an honest answer for once. He guessed he should assume that meant it really was not too bad. Dean's habit of concealing injuries usually confined itself to only the most life threatening kinds.

"I bet hanging like this isn't helping." he said sympathetically and Dean snorted.

"Not really my favourite position, no. Unless there was a hot chick involved of course, in which case.."

"Dean! Please, I am having a bad enough day as it is without getting any mental images like that thank you!" said Sam, sounding disgusted.

Dean just smirked in the darkness. Sam was such a prude sometimes.

For a few minutes there was silence as both Winchesters tried to make some headway with the ropes.

Dean as always had less patience than Sam and let out a frustrated sigh.

"What the hell is with the ropes anyway? And how does it tie such good knots with the whole Edward Scissorhands thing going on? I mean, where does it get them? Is there some Wendigo hardware store out there somewhere? 'Never have to worry about your dinner wandering off by itself! No more chasing your entrée!' It's ridiculous – like the damn thing doesn't have enough of an advantage with the talons and the sharp teeth, now it's gotta have equipment too!" he said, his voice getting higher with each sentence.

Sam actually had to bite his lip to stop himself laughing out loud. He'd never admit it to Dean but his brother could be hilariously funny at times, and never more so when he was having a good rant about something. But Sam was _so_ not encouraging him.

Instead he said "You done yet? Or are you just trying to get the thing's attention?"

Dean glared in Sam's general direction even though it was a pointless exercise in the dark. He knew Sam knew he'd be doing it though, so that was good enough for now.

Going back to working on the ropes Dean suddenly froze when he heard a noise. Sensing Sam had stopped moving too, Dean felt all his muscles tense as the 'fight or flight' thing kicked in. Seconds after the noise Dean smelt that awful stench and knew the Wendigo was coming back to check on it's food.

"Hey Fugly – nice of you to join us." he called out loudly, ignoring Sam's hissed "Dean!"

He knew that thing had the advantage of being able to see in the dark and no way was he having it going anywhere near Sam.

"Come on now, don't be rude – it's only fair to at least introduce yourself to your food before you eat it." he goaded, sensing the thing coming nearer to him.

Sam strained against his ropes, thinking of all the ways he was going to murder Dean himself if the Wendigo didn't get there first. As touching as it was that Dean was, as always, drawing attention to himself and away from Sam, it was also scaring the crap out of him. As always. At this rate Dean's 'protection' was gonna give Sam an ulcer by the time he was thirty.

Dean felt the rush of air just before the creature's claws came towards his head. Ducking he managed to angle himself so it hit the ropes, and felt them give slightly even as his arms were nearly pulled from their sockets. His bruised ribs protested the movement but he ignored the pain, adrenaline making it little more than an annoyance anyway. He pulled on the ropes and felt it give a little but not enough.

"Oh come on! That the best you got? And here's me thinking you were supposed to be some scary killing machine. I gotta tell you sunshine, I'm disappointed." said Dean.

"Do you have to piss off everything that's trying to kill you?" hissed Sam from across the cavern, sounding more angry with him than the Wendigo currently was.

Dean rolled his eyes but didn't bother answering. He was sure he'd get the inevitable wrath of Sam lecture later anyway, so he might as well save it.

Another swipe came his way, and this time he didn't move quite far enough and got slammed into the wall. He grunted as all the air left his body, without leaving a forwarding address, and heard Sam calling his name in that special tone of voice reserved for when his brother was scared stiff on his behalf. Dean really hated that tone.

The Wendigo moved towards Sam at the noise and Dean forced his lungs to take in enough air to speak again.

"Hey, we're not done yet!" he managed to wheeze and the thing came back at him again. He could hear Sam swearing and made a mental note to ask him exactly when he'd expanded his vocabulary so much. Dean was impressed – maybe college had been useful after all. Either that or they'd spent too much time at Bobby's after the accident.

Pulled out of his thoughts by the creature's presence near his head he ducked and was rewarded this time by the thing's claws hitting the rope again. This time his arms were yanked up several times as it tried to free itself, but the end result was worth it as Dean felt the rope suddenly give and dropped to his knees, hard. Ow – that was one more set of bruises for the collection.

Fumbling with burning arm muscles, he managed to get the rope off his wrists. Sensing the Wendigo was still behind him, he dived towards where Sam's voice had come from, connecting with his brother in move that had them both hitting the side of the cave wall.

"Sam! Stop kicking, it's me!" he hissed, narrowly avoiding no longer having the ability to reproduce.

"Dean!"

Sam's voice was full of relief but there was no time to chat. Reaching in his pocket and grabbing his knife Dean was able to reach up and put it in Sam's hand.

"Knife" he said and felt Sam grip it tightly and begin working on his own ropes. Keeping low, Dean scrambled on the floor hoping that he'd kept hold of the bag when the Wendigo had been dragging him through the tunnels.

Speaking of which.. Dean felt the thing aiming for him again and rolled out of the way. He felt the claws skim his shoulder with enough force to leave a stinging trail behind that told him another t-shirt was gonna need stitching up. He heard the sound of Sam dropping to the floor in much the same way he had moments ago.

"Find the bag!" he called to him and heard his brother moving around on the other side of the cavern. Working on keeping the Wendigo distracted Dean dodged and weaved like a well trained boxer. He knew logically his luck would run out any minute now and he was in serious danger of ending up majorly ventilated.

He'd just started to despair that the bag wasn't with them when he heard Sam yell "Got it!"

"Hey, you want some of this? Come on, I'm enjoying myself here!" he yelled, distracting the creature from heading towards Sam after his brother's excited exclamation.

He heard Sam fumbling in the bag, heard liquid being poured and suddenly there was a blinding flash of light as Sam lit a flaming torch. Blinking as his eyes tried to adjust to the new brightness, Dean's only consolation was that it had to be worse for the Wendigo whose eyes had gotten used to night vision after centuries spent underground.

"Hey – over here!" yelled Sam and Dean nearly had a heart attack.

"Sam, what the hell are you doing?" he hissed, ignoring the fact that he himself had been doing the same thing for the last ten minutes.

It was Sam's turn to ignore him this time. As the Wendigo came at him he kept the torch at arms length and managed to splash a fair amount of kerosene over the Wendigo as it slashed at him. Deciding it was time to put an end to the giant game of tag they were currently embroiled in, Sam shoved the torch at the creature and there was a whooshing sound as the kerosene caught. Both Dean and Sam dropped to the ground as the thing made an inhuman wailing sound as it literally turned into a living torch.

A few hideous moments later the Wendigo fell the the floor and the screaming stopped. In the glow from the dying fire Dean and Sam sat up. Moving round so he was next to Sam, Dean looked at him with relief clear all over his face. Sam had a feeling his expression looked exactly the same. Clapping his hand on Sam's shoulder and leaving it there, which was the nearest they'd get to an actual hug, Dean turned back to look at the remains of the creature as they burned brightly.

"Great. You do realise I'm now gonna smell like barbecued Wendigo for the next week." he said disgustedly and Sam snorted. Leave it to Dean to focus on the important stuff.

"Yeah, well you're lucky you're here to smell like anything at all. What the hell were you doing goading it like that?" said Sam, the lingering fear creeping into his voice and showing itself as anger.

Dean rolled his eyes. "I needed to get it close enough to cut through the ropes, Sam. Besides distracting it gave you enough time to find the bag. I'd call that teamwork, wouldn't you?" he said with a grin.

Sam shook his head. "Maybe. But just once I'd appreciate it if your idea of teamwork didn't involve you poking the proverbial bear with a stick or jumping in front of a bullet." said Sam softly and Dean could see Sam was only mad because he'd been scared for him.

Squeezing Sam's shoulder he waited until his brother looked up and met his gaze.

"Hey come on – it worked out fine, right? We killed that thing and lived to fight another day. Not a bad day's work for the dynamic duo." he said.

Sam shook his head but couldn't stop the grin breaking out at Dean's description of them as the dynamic duo again. He supposed they had gotten lucky for once, but it still didn't mean he approved of Dean's actions. Knowing he was fighting a losing battle, but also knowing that it was one he would never stop fighting, Sam decided to save the lecture for later when they were back in the fresh air.

As they gathered up their stuff in the dim light from the smouldering Wendigo, Dean turned to Sam.

"See, I told you it would be.." Sam glared at him, pointing an accusing finger.

"Don't you dare say it Dean! In case you hadn't noticed we're not out of here yet. You want to risk a cave in or God knows what else that could happen down here?"

Dean seemed to consider it. "Fair point. So which way is out anyway?" he said.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "What are you asking me for?" he said and Dean sighed. Why couldn't these creatures just once have a lair in the middle of civilisation?

Shouldering the bag, Dean retrieved the only flashlight that had survived the trip and turned it on. Shining it in Sam's face and earning himself a glare he grinned.

"So you want to do rock, paper, scissors to decide which way to go?" he said.

Sam sighed. Just once he wondered what it was like to have a conversation with a fellow adult. Ignoring Dean's proffered fist, he grabbed the flashlight that was currently blinding him and headed down the tunnel directly in front of them.

"Did you get out of the wrong side of bed this morning, Princess?" said dryly as Sam stomped past him.

Getting no reply Dean smirked, and took a final glance at the remains of the Wendigo.

"Sweet dreams." he said dryly.

Noticing the sudden darkness again, he quickly started running after his brother as the flashlight beam disappeared into the distance.

"Hey Sammy, wait up! Sam! Quit walking so fast would you? Sam!"


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: Thanks for everyone who kindly reviewed, despite the problems with the chapters on the site this week! Hope you've enjoyed it.. Here's the final chapter :)_

"Do you think we're nearly there yet?" said Dean, for the third time in ten minutes.

Sam counted to twenty in his head and reminded himself why he couldn't leave his brother down there for the rest of eternity.

"Which bit of 'I have no idea' wasn't clear the first two times?" said Sam evenly.

"Well excuse me for living." muttered Dean under his breath.

Sam sighed. They were both tired, battered, had pounding headaches and were still stuck underground with one flashlight between them. They really needed to take a deep breath before they ended up taking it out on each other. The one downside to having such a close relationship was that they knew each other so well they could push each other's buttons with ease. And words spoken between them in anger had a capacity to inflict pain far greater than any monster or demon ever could. It was strange considering how closely they'd grown up together, how closely they lived together now, but they'd only really had a handful of true fights over the years. And Sam could remember vividly every one and regretted every word spoken during them.

Taking a deep breath he stopped, which had Dean walking into the back of him.

"Dude! You wanna give some sort of warning when you're about to do an emergency stop?" said Dean sounding annoyed.

Sam managed to turn round sideways so he was half facing Dean.

"Look, I know we're both fed up being stuck down here, we've both got monster headaches and we really want to see daylight again. How about we not take it out on each other ok?" he said softly.

Dean looked at him surprised and then realised it was true. He had been getting more and more irritated with each passing step and he was coming perilously close to taking it out on Sam. He felt slightly guilty that Sam should have been the one to put a stop to things before they got that far.

"Yeah, you're right." he said, raising an eyebrow when Sam gave him a surprised look.

"What? I have said that before you know!" he said indignantly and Sam snorted.

"Really? I should have made a note." he said dryly.

Dean whacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Wise ass. So are we gonna get out of here or what?" he said and Sam rolled his eyes, turning round and starting to walk down the tunnel again.

Thirty minutes later Dean was firmly convinced they were gonna be stuck down there forever. He was starting to feel a little claustrophobic if he was honest, and his ribs were really throbbing. He was contemplating breaking the habit of a lifetime and asking Sam if they could stop for a moment when suddenly his brother let out a whoop.

"Hey, I think I see light up ahead!" he said.

Dean whacked him on the back of the head. "Don't do that Sam! I nearly had a heart attack!"

Sam turned round to glare at him. "First off, ow! And secondly, don't joke about that ok?" he said seriously.

Dean rolled his eyes. Even after all this time Sam was still overly sensitive about any joke or lighthearted comment that involved anything to do with Dean's heart. He supposed he could understand it. He was equally as sensitive about any jokes about him killing Sam. They really did have far too many subjects in their family that were off limits.

"Fine Samantha, you nearly scared the crap outta me – that better?" he said.

Sam huffed. "Oh yeah, much better image, thanks Dean." he said.

Dean shoved him forward again. "Can we please get on with this? I stay underground much longer I'm gonna be the same colour as a damn ghost."

Sure enough Sam had been right. Five minutes later they were stumbling out of the cave, blinking in the early afternoon sunlight. Dean sighed happily at the sight of his beloved car and quickened his pace, patting her roof before he unlocked the trunk. Dumping the bag inside he grabbed two bottles of water and gave one to Sam.

Leaning back against the car they drank the water greedily, enjoying the simple sensation of fresh air and daylight. Sam finished his water first, dropping the empty bottle back in the trunk. As he moved past Dean he noticed the blood on his shoulder and frowned.

Dean jumped a little when Sam started pulling at his jacket, exposing the shredded t-shirt and bloody claw marks. Dean pulled back, fixing Sam with an irritated look.

"It's just a scratch Sam. Don't start." he said warningly.

Sam shook his head. "We both know you and I have very different ideas of what a scratch is. Let me look at it ok?"

Dean sighed but recognised Sam's determined tone of voice. Knowing it was easier to just give in now and get it over with he let Sam prod and poke at the gash, his face creased with concentration. He winced as Sam probed the deepest cut, jerking his shoulder back.

"Jeez! You wanna work on the bedside manner there Florence?" he said and Sam glared at him.

"It doesn't look too bad. I don't think they'll even need stitches." he said and Dean raised his eyebrow.

"See? I told you it was nothing."

"Uh huh – what about your ribs?" said Sam.

Dean held up his hands to ward off Sam before he could check them out.

"Just bruised – trust me, I know the difference."

Sam didn't look too pleased but let it go, happy for now that Dean had at least let him look at his shoulder.

Suddenly he was aware of Dean's scrutiny as he looked Sam over with a practised eye.

"What about you? Don't think I've forgotten you fell through the floor." he said, in full big brother mode.

Sam held out his arms. "I'm fine, honestly. Just one big bruise that's all."

Dean held his gaze for a moment before nodding, satisfied Sam wasn't hiding anything from him.

"So, I guess we didn't do so bad after all." he said with a cocky grin and Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Are you kidding? We were so lucky on this one, Dean. We shoulda done more research and we shoulda been better prepared. It's not like us." he said softly.

Dean sighed. "Yeah I know – I was thinking the same thing actually." he said, sharing a smile with Sam at the fact their minds were so often on the same wavelength.

"So, what's up with that?" said Sam and Dean was silent for so long Sam wondered if he wasn't going to answer.

Eventually he spoke. "We got distracted. Everything that's happened lately, everything that might happen in the future – we've been so busy thinking about all that we forgot the training." he said softly and Sam smiled sadly.

"Dad would be pretty pissed." he said and Dean snorted. "No argument there."

They both stood there for a moment, thinking about what had been said.

"We gotta start doing things properly again, Dean." said Sam after a while. "We got lucky this time, seriously, and we can't afford to keep taking chances like this."

Sam didn't add that with every close call, with every near miss, he was terrified that Dean was running out of lives. Just how many chances did one person get before it was all over for real? Sam was determined not to find out.

Dean, unaware of Sam's thoughts, nodded. "Alright, from now on it's back to working gigs the way we used to. I'll even let you go back to being research boy." he said with a grin.

"Gee, you're too kind Dean." said Sam dryly.

"Seriously though, no more half assed hunts - deal?" said Dean and Sam nodded.

"Deal." he said firmly.

Dean was about to get in the car when Sam suddenly grabbed his arm. Dean looked at him quizzically and Sam swallowed before he spoke.

"All this other stuff, Dean. The cops, the feds, the whole demon thing. We can't change it you know? And tying ourselves up in knots isn't helping any. I'm not saying I'm not scared about the future, I'm terrified if you want the truth, but all I know is right now we're alive and we're together and we're still fighting. And maybe that's gotta be good enough for now, don't you think?" he said earnestly.

Dean swallowed. Hell, it was more than good enough for him. He could handle anything as long as he and Sam were facing it together. Not wanting to make the moment more emotional than it already was he simply nodded.

"Sounds good to me." he said, his voice sounding rough.

Sam smiled at him and held his hand out. "Now we got that sorted you can give me the keys." he said and Dean frowned.

"Why the hell would I want to do that Sammy?" he said and Sam rolled his eyes at the name, as usual.

"It's Sam, and because you got more banged up than I did. Besides you complained enough driving down here in the first place, I don't think I can handle listening to you bitch all the way back to the main road." he said.

"Hey, you were the one took my car down a crease." said Dean, reigniting the argument they'd started so many hours ago.

"It's a road, and I am not having this conversation with you again Dean - keys!" said Sam firmly.

Dean huffed but gave in. Truth was he was pretty tired and his ribs were aching quite a lot. He threw the keys at Sam, pointing a finger accusingly at him.

"Just watch the damn potholes ok? She's not an off road car, remember."

Sam rolled his eyes and slid into the driver's seat, gunning the engine. Dean got in as well, sinking tiredly into the seat and leaning his head back. Closing his eyes he got comfortable as Sam pulled away and headed back down the track they'd originally come down.

"Don't think because my eyes are closed I'm not still watching what you're doing." said Dean after a moment and Sam shook his head.

"The relationship you have with this car is not healthy Dean – really." he said and Dean opened one eye to glare at him briefly.

"Whatever. Just remember I'm not the one cleaning her when we get to the next motel." he said.

Sam snorted. "Really? Funny, cos neither am I." he said.

"Hell yeah you are – you were the one who brought us down here in the first place." said Dean.

"Fine, next time we'll leave the car on the road and hike down, that sound better to you?"

"Oh yeah, any plan with the word 'hiking' in it sounds great to me." said Dean, each word dripping with sarcasm and Sam smirked.

"Well then. It's just a bit of mud, Dean. You're not implying your car is fragile are you?"

This time both eyes opened to glare at him and Sam chuckled. Listening to Dean mutter under his breath about making him lick the mud off, Sam felt himself relax.

It was true what he'd said earlier – they'd been through so much already and they'd survived it together. As long as they remembered that, they could face whatever the future might bring.

Even if that included giant pot holes.

"Sam!"

Yep. It was gonna be a long drive.


End file.
